SKUSA: PKC-S: Santa Maria preview

PROKART CHALLENGE South TO WRAP SEASON AT SANTA MARIA
Championships on the line as program heads to popular SoCal circuit
TEMECULA, CA (August 22, 2008) -- After six months of hard racing
and traveling around the Southern portion of...

PROKART CHALLENGE South TO WRAP SEASON AT SANTA MARIA
Championships on the line as program heads to popular SoCal circuit

TEMECULA, CA (August 22, 2008) -- After six months of hard racing
and traveling around the Southern portion of California, the Superkarts!
USA ProKart Challenge South program will host its sixth and final event
of the 2008 season at the Santa Maria Kart Track in Santa Maria, Calif.
on August 30. The event could the be the last at the facility, as it is
rumored to be closing in the near future and the PKC event may be the
last chance to compete at the 7/10-mile circuit, which is located on the
city's airport grounds. Ten different title winners will be
determined next Saturday -- and with the championship counting the
best five of six races, nothing will be decided until the final checkered
flag falls.

The class that everyone has been keeping an eye on throughout the year
has been the S3 Light category. It has seen some heavy hitters make
one-off appearances; however, the PKC contingent has stepped up
continuously throughout the year. Leading the championship chase heading
into round six is Bobby Legate. After winning the opening two round of
the years, Legate went winless until round five in San Diego. Round four
victor Patrick Cushenberry sits second, 163 points behind before dropping
his worst finish. With a race this tight, a win in Santa Maria could see
the championship decided by a couple of points. Clinton Schoombee sits
third, and will need some help if he wants to leave Santa Maria with the
title. S3 Heavy is even tighter, with Phil Conte and Marty Henderson
separated by just 20 points heading into the final round. Each driver has
two feature wins on the season, but with PKC counting points from
qualifying and both heat races, each lap will be key for both drivers.

In the S4 divisions, Willy Musgrave has 173 markers over Bryce Miller in
the Light category, with Ken Schilling up by 241 points over Alex King in
the Heavy class. Musgrave has four feature wins on the season while
Miller is still searching for his first on the season. A win will be
crucial if Miller hopes to raise the championship trophy at the end of
the campaign. Billy Musgrave sits just 250 points out of first but,
looking at a drop race, a victory in Santa Maria could give him the
title. Schilling enters Santa Maria with three victories to King's
one feature win. King will need a complete weekend sweep and some help to
gain ground on Schilling's advantage.

Robert Marks has had the bulls-eye on his back since the start of the
year in G1, taking three straight wins to begin the season. Looking to
return to the top step of the podium at the finale, Marks will enter the
event with a 171-point lead over Troy Butts, who has been fast all year
-- although he has not earned the checkered flag this season. A win
will keep the point totals close when the final tally is calculated.
Steve Donia has been near perfect on the season, with four feature wins
to lead Eric Ortega in the G2 standings. The gap that Ortega will have to
overcome in the final round is 135 points before the drop is calculated,
so he will need to be at the front of the field in Santa Maria.

In S1, Jimmy McNeil has 338 points over Peter Abba, who continues to
improve on the year, earning his first feature win in San Diego during
the most recent round of the series. Zach Dericco, Travis Whitehead and
Ryon Beachner will decide the TaG Senior title in the final round. The
three are separated by just 249 points heading into Santa Maria.
Whitehead and Beachner each have one feature win on the season while
Dericco has a zero in the win column, hoping to earn his first to clinch
the championship. In TaG Masters, Billy Cleavelin came short of
perfection on the year, losing only the feature race in San Diego.
However, he will be looking to add his fifth win of the season to bag the
class title this time around. With over 400 points on second place Allan
Svela, Cleavelin has just about wrapped up the championship.

The end of the season also marks the beginning of change for the ProKart
Challenge and the Superkarts! USA organization. The spec MG tire has been
the MZ compound, but that particular tire saw round five as its last
event. Round Six will mark the first time that the series will use the
new FZ compound, which will also be utilized at the SKUSA SuperNationals
XII in November at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. With this
exciting race coming up as well, PKC expects a larger than usual turnout
at Santa Maria, with some of the PKC NorCal racers coming down to get
track time in on the FZ tires ahead of their final round and the
season-ending SuperNats.

PKC will not be sponsoring a Friday night BBQ at Santa Maria, in order to
allow attendees to enjoy the best of what the town has to offer; however,
the Moose Lodge will be on hand both Friday and Saturday to provide food
concessions, including the famous tri-tip sandwiches. The pre-entry
cutoff for the race is August 27 at midnight, where you can save money
and guarantee a spot along with getting your fuel and tires set early.
On-site registration will be allowed at the track starting Friday at 7am
and Saturday at 6:30am. For more information about this event and to
check out the line-up of year-end prizes available to ProKart Challenge
competitors, head to www.prokartchallenge.com.